In-Line Scent Bottles

I added this to a post on the Ice Fishing General Discussion Forum back in December. This seems like a good time to bring it forward and add it to the Catfishing Forum. Most of us are going nuts waiting for some open water cat fishing so make a few of these to help pass the time and you will add one more tool to your cat tackle box.

I call these In-Line Scent Bottles for lack of a better name. I made a few of these last summer and field tested them with varying degrees of luck. All I did was take a pill bottle and drilled it full of holes, don’t forget to drill holes around the lid and the bottom of the bottle too. I double thread my cat leader through a bead about 4″ above the hook (this is to keep the bottle from sliding down to the hook). I then thread the leader through the bottom, up through the bottle and out the lid. Then put some stink bait in the bottle with a big hunk of cut bait on the hook in front of the bottle. I used the Berkley Blood scent Bait chunks, I would chop them up into small pieces and keep them in a small coffee can with a small plastic spoon. It is easy to fill the bottle, snap on the lid and ready to go. The filled bottle would last about 15 to 20 minutes which was about the time I normally change cut bait too. It seemed like the warmer the water, the faster the scent bait dissolved. I caught channels on this rig pretty regular but I was also catching them on rods rigged with straight cut bait so I’m not sure if it helped or not. It sure did not seem to hurt anyway.

Steve, since the bottle is filled with a certain scent…and a cat is following that scent…wouldn’t it make :ha:”scents” to use the same bait on the hook?

Kind of a silly question…but, if they follow the bait scent…they expect the pot of gold…only to find cut bait…??

Might be worth a try??

Now, is there a way I can apply this to flathead fishing??

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Now, is there a way I can apply this to flathead fishing??

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Try the same thing with an ice cream bucket filled with a few bullies. Might do the trick I’d love to see you cast that.

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Steve, since the bottle is filled with a certain scent…and a cat is following that scent…wouldn’t it make :ha:”scents” to use the same bait on the hook?

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I don’t think they set out to eat what they smell. IMO they are opportunistic feeders and all the scent does is lead them towards your bait. According to everything I have read, catfish have an exceptional sense of smell and taste. One of the In-Fisherman books talks about this keen sense of smell guiding cats to your bait lying 100 yards upstream in a muddy river in the middle of the night. I figure the scent bottle will guide them to my bait but I like a big chunk of cut bait because I am hoping to just catch the big cats. I’m after the big guys and that is why I like to use cut bait and not just dip baits or scent baits.

I do think that some scents will make the cats come investigate even if they don’t intend on eating it.
I think they are curious creatures.

If you wanted to scent with the type of bait your using you can always borrow your wifes blender.

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If you wanted to scent with the type of bait your using you can always borrow your wifes blender.

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Been there, done that. I now have a blender the wife told me I can keep for my very own. But alas, Minnesota – the land of 10,000 fishing regulations!! NO CHUMMING, NO CHUMMING IN THE METRODOME ( or anywhere else for that matter).

I’ll bet that Brian is even banned from using the microwave after this weekend. Am I right, Brian

Shhh…she’s just about over the smell of mooneye…covered up the paint smell perdy good though..

Rule Number One: When defrosting Mooneye, never leave the area of the microwave.

I did notice when I was cutting it up that the tail section was completely cooked throu…I had a quick thought of tasting cooked Mooneye…but I thought I would let Stephainy try it first…she declined…so I tossed it.

Steve is the only guy I know that has his own personal blender in the garage. You missed rule #1 there buddy!

Steve is the only guy I know that has his own personal blender in the garage. You missed rule #1 there buddy!

Do I detect alittle…or maybe ALOT of jealousy there Bud???
Thanks, Bill

ps.and before you get the chance to come back with a remark Brian I have two words to say. good night.

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Do I detect alittle…or maybe ALOT of jealousy there Bud???

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Naa…if I would have set the wave for just a bit longer…I would have one upped him with my own microwave in the garage!

Night Bill…

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I had a quick thought of tasting cooked Mooneye

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The Canadians enjoy it. They even have a limit on them.
Tell me how it tastes next time you defrost some.

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I did notice when I was cutting it up that the tail section was completely cooked throu…I had a quick thought of tasting cooked Mooneye…but I thought I would let Stephainy try it first…she declined…so I tossed it.

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LOL, I have a hard enough time getting her to eat walleye. For some reason, I can’t picture her eating microwaved bait.

At one time a commercial version was available. Not sure if you can still find em. It is called a underwater suspension apparatus by UAS tackle??

That would be USA tackle.

Thanks, Dirk. I found this link to an article describing the Underwater Suspension Apparatus: http://entertainment.news-leader.com/outdoors/_threeweeksago/0617-Scentdispe-113182.html

I tried to do a Google search for the product or for USA Tackle but I didn’t have any luck. Underwater Suspension System comes up on the Google search but the link doesn’t work any longer. It sounds like the product had some promise but the marketing died. You have to admit the name kind of sucks, who is going to buy an “Underwater Suspension Apparatus”. They needed a name like “The Big Fish Killer” or something to that affect. I would like to see one just to find out how it worked.